Lots of Competition for Rentals

If you have tried renting a house in Bend recently or know someone who has then you know that there is a lot of competition for rental homes. The rental market is hot right now. So hot, in fact, that we aren’t even having to advertise many of our listings. In the last week we have found tenants for two homes that were weeks away from being ready to rent and had not been advertised yet.

The common theme that we are hearing from prospective tenants is that “every house I call on is already rented.” We know these people aren’t just lazy and checking the ads once a week because every house that we have advertised for rent has been rented by well qualified tenants within a week. We are also hearing from a lot of people who have been looking for weeks and their deadline to move is just around the corner. Renters in this market have to be diligent and at the very least have CraigsList book marked on their computer and phone.

Another thing that renters should be doing is calling property managers on a regular basis to check for homes that aren’t yet available but will be soon. I don’t know what policy other Bend property management companies have about this but we at Preferred Residential are more than happy to put prospective tenants on our “needs list.” We are also happy to tell callers about rental homes that will be coming available soon.

An example of a home that we can’t advertise but we know when it will be available is one that is in the process of being purchased. At this moment we have two homes like this. We can’t advertise them and the (future) owner can’t make repairs because the deal hasn’t closed yet. However, we are more than happy to tell renters about them and in some cases even show them if it means we can have the house rented as soon as it closes.

Renters, don’t be shy. Give us a call, even if we don’t currently have any homes advertised for rent. Investors, this is a great time to have a rental on the market. We are uniquely qualified to help you find the right home to buy because of our management experience.